Tropical Thunder

Eat, Pray, Tan

As August comes to an end, I’d like to take a moment to pause and reflect on all my experiences thus far. It’s been an interesting summer, to say the least. I relocated to Florida in May and was fortunate enough to find an Airbnb that could accommodate my long term stay (3 months) for a reasonable enough price. Pictured above is the salt water pool I’d swim in every other day. The family has been so kind and gracious to open up their 7 bedrooms, 9 bathroom home (or should I say mansion?) to me. I commonly refer to it as The Real World House because it was a house full of strangers who lived together. We had a hot tub, 3 sweet poodles, a chatty parrot, 2 toddlers, taco Tuesday’s, full breakfast bar on weekends, and a housekeeper who came about 3x a week. Marble floors, sky high ceilings, lake views, two stories and plenty of driveway space. So yeah, you could say I was living rather lavish. And I enjoyed every second of it.

Hibiscus flower petals that had fallen into the pool. June 2017

Stepping out of your Comfort Zone

I loved my time here not necessarily because of the luxurious lifestyle, but because I was able to meet interesting people coming in and out. Just people from all walks of life, you know? People from Europe, a couple from Germany, business travelers from all over the states, college students, older folks on vacation, even a bachelor party group. I was only one of two other roommates who was staying long term, so we’d occasionally sit on the balcony, sipping margaritas, watching the sun go down while discussing the latest house guest. Some nights, things got weird. Like super weird. Weird as in I need to go to my room and put my headphones on if you know what I mean. I’m grinning as I type this because I have so many fun stories. This is how you grow and broaden your mind. Be around people who are different than you. 10/10, highly recommend.

Grand piano located in the foyer, which I have had the pleasure of entertaining on.

The property was situated near the Hillsborough River. Great running spot.